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One of my favorite snack food bars, banana nut bars from Odwalla, suddenly were out of stock everywhere for 2 months or so. And I started snacking on nuts on the road or everyday snack time. Too many nuts and me do not go well together. Breakouts and jiggly arms. Nuff said.
So I decided I needed to make some snack bars. So here is one of my favorite snack bar recipes.
Ingredients for Banana Nut Snack Bars:
- Bananas
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Oats
- Dates
- Walnuts
- Cashews
- Hemp Seeds
Substitutions for Banana Nut Snack Bars:
- To make these banana nut snack bars nut-free, replace the nuts with a combination of seeds.
- For more variation, add other dried fruit like cherries, apricots, strawberries, blueberries, etc.
- Make these snack bars with banana oil-free by omitting the coconut oil.
How to Make Banana Nut Snack Bars
These healthy banana oat bars come together really fast with the help of your food processor.
- Mash the bananas with all the spices and coconut oil.
- In your food processor, break up the oats, dates, walnuts, and hemp seeds (or add the chopped nuts and seeds later for a chunkier snack bar).
- Combine the two mixtures together.
- Then, press the banana snack bars onto a baking dish, bake for 30 minutes, and done!
Just make sure the snack bars cool completely before cutting, or else they will fall apart.
Make a big batch of these snack bars to keep handy! They store really well in the freezer, too!
More Food/Protein Bars and Snacks – all gluten-free
- No Bake Chocolate Almond Zesty Snack Bars, 2 Ways. Vegan Gluten Free
- No Bake Sunbutter Granola Bars
- Seedy Ginger Chocolate No Bake Granola Bars
Banana Nut Snack Bars
Ingredients Â
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cloves powder
- a generous pinch of nutmeg
- 2 tsp coconut oil
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats, use certified gluten-free if needed
- 3/4-1 cup dates, depends on how sweet you like the bars
- 3/4 cup walnuts, or use a combination of walnuts and cashews, or a combination of seeds to make nut-free
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
InstructionsÂ
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- In a bowl, mash the bananas and mix in the vanilla, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and oil.
- In a food processor, add oats, dates, walnuts, and hemp seeds, and pulse to make a coarse mixture. You can keep it chunky by adding chopped nuts later.
- Add this to the banana mixture a cup at a time and mix. Add more oats, if needed.
- Press the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet and bake for another 7 to 10 minutes, or until golden on the edges and dry to touch in the center. Let cool completely before slicing.Store in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for up to a month.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in July 2014 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Can you clarify where to use the 2 tsp coconut oil. Thanks!
add it to the mashed banana
Thank you so much!!!! I have a batch in the oven now. I cannot wait to try them. They smell yummy.
banana and nuts are just the best combination. jumbo sized banana nut muffins were my favorite growing up- these are the perfect healthy alternative!
We made these for breakfast and loved them. Didn’t have hemp seeds so just added some ground flax.
I was an Odwalla bar FIEND for a long time, but I think I’ll take yours over theirs any day!
These look wonderful and sooo simple which I love! I really wish I liked bananas!!! 😫
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So perfect snack. Especially for people on diet who must eat something sweet but still healthy. There is also great idea for people who don’t have time to eat breakfast at home. They can buy only some yogurt or milk and nutritious breakfast is ready. Your recipe give us also vitamin B1 and B6, for more nutritional information you can chech HappyForks analyzer.
Hey Richa ..nice recipe!! I wanted to know if there is any alternate ingredient for oats. Oats doesn’t suit me. Thanks.
Hi sheetal,
You can add dried coconut flakes, more of the nuts and seeds and some flour of choice. Add enough so the mixture is stiff not too sticky mix. then press into a parchemnt lined sheet or pan and bake.
you can also add some rice krispies or other cereal
Beautiful clicks Richa
Oh, this looks so tasty! Are the hemp seeds just there for nutrition (as opposed to binding)? Could I do half flax seed, half hemp?
Thanks!
sure use any seeds or nuts. the banana binds everything.